FE ATURE CARBON-FREE DIET
2 to appreciate the value of food. Some estimates suggest that
the food we buy but then throw away adds up to 214 calories
per person each day. But an analysis published earlier this year
concluded that the problem is worse than that. Dr Monika van
den Bos Verma and her colleagues at Wageningen University
& Research in the Netherlands found that each of us, on
average, actually wastes 527 calories each day. Alarming as this
conclusion is, she points out that it also represents a golden
opportunity. “Yes, it’s a bigger problem than we thought,” she
says. “But that means if we can solve it, it’s a bigger solution
as well. That’s a big ‘if’, but I think we can do it.”
Right now, there isn’t much stigma associated with throwing
away bread that has gone stale, or bananas that have overripened.
But what we deem socially acceptable can change relatively
rapidly, as we’ve seen in recent decades with public perceptions
“PEOPLE ASSUME FOOD
HABITS ARE STUCK FOR
LIFE, THAT PEOPLE DON’T
CHANGE – BUT IT’S
ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE”
9kg
driving
40km
heating
a home
for
1.5days
or
Potatoes
(2)
In each case we’ve
calculated the
consumption over an
entire year, and have
assumed 3-5 servings
a week.
CREDIT: The data in
this infographic was
calculated using the
BBC’s climate change
food calculator, which
is based on data from
researchers at the
University of Oxford
and the Agroecology
and Environment
Research Division in
Zurich, Switzerland.
12kg
driving
51km
heating
a home
for
2 days
or
Bread
(1 slice)
25kg
driving
103km
heating
a home
for
3 days
or
Pasta
(75g)
69kg
driving
285km
heating
a home
for
11 days
or
Rice
(3tbsp)
6kg
driving
27km
heating
a home
for
1 day
or
Citrus fruit
(1)
7kg
driving
29km
heating
a home
for
1.1 days
or
Apples
(1)
14kg
driving
59km
heating
a home
for
2 days
or
Bananas
(1)
41kg
driving
169km
heating
a home
for
6 days
or
Avocados
(1 half)
20kg
driving
86km
heating
a home
for
3 days
or
Beans
(150g)
Greenhouse gas
emissions:
Equivalent of:
Carbs Fruit